When I’m trying to make decisions about what to do (as in when I was deciding on a major or deciding about marriage), it often comes in a sense of what I call a “‘forward flow” if it’s right and uneasiness or lack of feeling settled.

If it’s about learning more about truth and doctrine, it will usually be with ideas just clicking, or that sense of “pure intelligence” when I know the ideas are not mine. Light really IS discernible (a la Alma 32).

If it’s about getting through a trial, often, I will just feel a sense of peace and comfort (not always immediately, but I have had enough of those anchors to know that peace can only come from God).

Recognizing the promptings and teachings of the Holy Ghost are necessary for one to progress further in the gospel. The scriptures only become alive through the teaching of the spirit, otherwise IMHO they would simply be words on a page.

Since the spirit is felt in a number of ways it is hard to limit it by experience for me. I agree with your comment that learning how the spirit speaks to you is a lifelong process. We will progress until we are filled with the spirit and become sanctified by it.

I think one of the best ways to help children as well as ourselves to learn to recognize the influence of the Spirit in our lives is to discuss our experiences in the family, and write them down so that we can remember and refer to them.

Most of us have had discernable spiritual experiences: an idea on how to find a lost item; a feeling of relief or forgiveness after repenting of unkind act; a strong feeling of divine love and comfort when we are suffering; a prompting to call or visit a friend; a prompting to refrain from doing or saying something.

Many times (although not always!) we can see good results when we follow the direction of the Spirit, and bad results when we ignore it. Discussing our thought process and how we felt when we made a particular choice, and then reflecting on the consequent results, can help us learn to discern how the Spirit may be working in our lives.

One of the things we talked about is that learning how the Spirit speaks to you is a lifelong process. It is important to seek the Spirit, to learn about how the Spirit can work so you recognize it.

For my kids, for this lesson, I compared the Spirit/Comforter to the warmth of a blanket or a quilt. I think that’s a good place to begin.

When I was younger, the Spirit tended to manifest truth to me through the “burning of the bosom” –but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve found that mostly it has come through words and thoughts –that clarity of thinking. I think it’s wonderful that as we change and grow, the Spirit changes the way we can hear/feel Him. Since our circumstances, education, growth, and desires mature and change, it makes sense to me that the way I’ve heard/felt the Spirit has changed, too.

The times I’ve felt most influenced by the Spirit have been when reading or watching something and part of the content hits me with particular force. Sometimes when praying about a problem I’ll have an image or memory come to mind. It’s still hard for me to differentiate the Spirit from the workings of my own mind, but I’m trying to learn.